Businesses should be guided towards capitalizing on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and removing barriers, heard a seminar in Hanoi on December 6.
Tran Huu Huynh, head of the Legal Affairs Department under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), recalled the opportunities and challenges Vietnam faced after joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Local businesses seem wary of innovation, worn out by the fierce competition of an open, globalised market, he said.
December 6 seminar in Hanoi
Huynh suggested domestic businesses learn from their WTO experiences to make the most of the TPP agreement’s required integration, international-standard efficiency, and carefully considered planning.
Vietnam Economics Institute Head Dr Tran Dinh Thien said Vietnam needs to remove a ‘bottleneck’ in economic growth to keep pace with other economies which are showing signs of recovery.
He was optimistic, however, about Vietnam’s 2013 economic growth and national competitiveness index improvements.
The country climbed five notches in the Global Competitiveness Index. Export revenue stood at US$121 billion after the past 11 months, 16.2% higher than the same period in 2012.
The foreign direct investment sector’s exports (excluding crude oil) were valued at US$74.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 28.5%. Vietnam’s GDP growth rate reached 5.54% in the third quarter of 2013.
Dr. Thien is still concerned about the sluggish development that could cause problems for Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the TPP’s implementation, especially if they fail to create the necessary support structures and strategies for their future operations.
The difficulties he highlighted included intellectual property rights, public procurement, transparency, and an environment of expanded competition.
(VOV)
